“A U.S.-China tariff war is sure to produce very real economic consequences, and political fallout, in both nations…. Whatever else one might think of President Trump’s actions, he is confronting China about its unfair trade practices and theft of American intellectual property when too many others shy away from the truth for fear of Chinese reprisal.”

“No consequence of global warming is as self-evident as higher temperatures. Earth is roughly 1°C hotter today than it was before humanity started belching greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution.” This summer the consequences are widespread: “Heat is causing problems across the world.” But if global warming continues, “the toll on human lives is hard to imagine.” The bright spot is that better government response appears to be saving some lives. “If only the world could take in a similar lesson about the importance of stopping climate change in the first place.”

“When the U.K. secedes from the EU, it will abandon 70 years of globalization. It will turn away from a world order that increasingly relies on supranational institutions to check the power of extremely wealthy individuals and corporations like Apple and Facebook, with market capitalizations far bigger than the GDPs of most nations.” The potential consequences of Brexit leave many in the City of London feeling threatened, but there is “a coterie of hard-right, wealthy businessmen” who are delighted about “rolling back globalization to protect their positions of power — all in the name of populism.”

“Nothing like this has happened in human history…. Men outnumber women by 70 million in China and India.” The results are “far-reaching: Beyond an epidemic of loneliness, the imbalance distorts labor markets, drives up savings rates in China and drives down consumption, artificially inflates certain property values, and parallels increases in violent crime, trafficking or prostitution.” Moreover the consequences extend all the way to Europe and the U.S.

“Despite her dramatic electoral upset, British Prime Minister Theresa May appears determined to stay in office. In the short term, she could yet manage it. But the longer-term consequences may well be disastrous for her country.”

“Political disruption has its uses but not if it consumes your Presidency in the process.” Donald Trump “seems determined to conduct a shock and awe campaign to fulfill his campaign promises as quickly as possible, while dealing with the consequences later.” Unfortunately, governing effectively “is more complicated than a campaign rally” and the “bonfire over his executive order on refugees shows that government by deliberate disruption can blow up in damaging ways.”

“It was about 37 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in the Arctic in November than it usually is this time of year. The week before Christmas, it was 50 degrees above the usual average. That is, to put it mildly, something quite out of the ordinary.” Even more troubling, “what every scientist in the world studying the Arctic knows is this: what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic; and global warming is now permanently altering the region in ways that will have untold consequences. In fact, the Arctic system has changed so dramatically that it may now be vulnerable to tipping points that affect the entire planet.”

“Donald Trump is obviously a great man…. But you don’t have to be good to be great.” Trump is has proven himself to be a “unique force.” He will soon “be president of the United States, for good or ill, and if one thing is certain, it’s that it will have momentous consequences one way or another.”

“Nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today. More than five trillion pieces of plastic are already in the oceans, and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish, by weight… Some 8 million tons of plastic trash leak into the ocean annually, and it’s getting worse every year. Americans are said to use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.” The potentially catastrophic impact largely lies beyond our gaze in remote places, like Midway Atoll, where birds are dying from plastic consumption. There is now also “growing evidence that fish may prefer eating plastic to food,” and that the nano-plastics and styrene that make their way into the food chain could have profoundly negative consequences for humankind.

“The UK’s decision to leave the EU will not have any immediate, direct negative consequences for the ratings of states and major banks across Asia Pacific,” according to Fitch Ratings who also warned that “Japan could prove the exception…given the yen’s haven status and resultant strengthening posing a risk to policymakers’ planning.”